New Primate of England committed to Inter-religious dialogue

The appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, former Anglican Bishop of Durham was confirmed yesterday by Prime Minister David Cameron. The new leader of the Anglican Communion worked for years as a special envoy of Rowan Williams in Africa and the Middle East. The Vicar of Baghdad stresses his emphasis on dialogue between Muslims and Christians.

London (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - "The new Archbishop
of Canterbury Justin Welby is a great man of God who helped me to reopen
the Church of St. George in
Baghdad and with whom I worked on
dialogue with
Islam in the most tortured
places in the world: Israel, Nigeria
and Iraq", says Canon Andrew White, vicar
of the Anglican Church in Iraq, underlining the strong
commitment of the successor of Rowan
Williams in interreligious dialogue.
"What can you say when a
colleague and a friend becomes
Archbishop? - asks White - you just have to
thank God."

Father of six children and ex-oil
manager, Justin Welby, 56, current bishop of Durham, will lead the
Anglican Church -
about 70 million followers around
the world - in one of its most difficult moments, characterized by deep
internal divisions over the consecration
of woman bishops and homosexual priests. His election was confirmed yesterday by the British Prime Minister
David Cameron.

Ordained in 1992, Welby is part of the evangelical
wing of the Anglicans that preaches
adherence to the traditions of the Bible and its precepts, but that for several years
has been marked by a deep division
on doctrinal themes. In recent years he has served as special envoy to Africa, particularly in
Nigeria where he worked in collaboration with other Catholic and
Protestant leaders, on reconciliation between Christians
and Muslims. In 2011 he was appointed Bishop of Durham (East of England).